CNGFhttp://cngf.org
California Native Garden FoundationMon, 26 Nov 2018 16:08:38 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=5.0.3http://cngf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/cropped-CNGFEnhancedLogo-32x32.jpgCNGFhttp://cngf.org
32325 important reasons to design, build, and manage ROA regenerative organic farmshttp://cngf.org/five-reasons-roa/
http://cngf.org/five-reasons-roa/#respondWed, 13 Jun 2018 03:07:40 +0000http://cngf.org/?p=4475These are some of the components of our Regenerative Organic Agriculture Farm, which is the same model we are striving for in Africa, India, France and Chile. It is up to each of you to work with local ecologists and the older people of your villages to discover the value of your ancestral plants–then reintroduce...

These are some of the components of our Regenerative Organic Agriculture Farm, which is the same model we are striving for in Africa, India, France and Chile.

It is up to each of you to work with local ecologists and the older people of your villages to discover the value of your ancestral plants–then reintroduce them to the local people and create hedgerows comprised of your locally native plants.

This will protect your biodiversity and improve soil function, hydrology, air quality and nutrient uptake. Scientific studies support this.

Five important reasons to design, build and manage regenerative organic Agriculture farms (ROA) in urban and Peri urban environments:

Gateway to San Jose’s first Eco-Village

1) Growing food locally, using ROA ecological methods can simultaneously reduce CO2 emissions by 30% while also sequestering significant carbon in the soil.

2) Converting to this form (ROA) of local food production builds soil organic content while sequestering more carbon in the soil than existing agriculture methods. Current farming methods diminish soil organic content, worsening from year to year.

3) Data shows that ROA farms are 7 to 10 times more productive than organic farms. Based on a California economy, typical one-acre organic farm will produce $12-18k revenue for one year. An ROA Farm will generate $100-$125k/acre/year.

4) An ROA one-acre farm can feed 500 people all their required fresh fruit and vegetables for a year. It can take 3 to 5 years for a regen farm to reach full production. High productivity is possible because of the variety of foods grown, methods used and multiple strategies employed, particularly by stacking functions.

5) ROA farms require fewer resources to grow more food than current farming practices. They are less labor intensive, less fossil fuel dependent, use less water, use no phosphate based fertilizers, no pesticides, no insecticides and no herbicides.

Restore the ecosystem and promote biodiversity that manage pests and other pathogens

Uses pesticides, phosphate fertilizers and food waste

Proven farming method that is 7-10x more productive than agro-petrochemical farming, or organic farming

Negatively impacts water, air and soil and is not sustainable

Sequester CO2 and capture GHG emissions simultaneously

Use tilling: creates erosion and loss of soil

Utilizes polyculture and extensive native hedgerows that replicate local ecosystems

A Brief History of the California Native Garden Foundation:

1976: Alrie Middlebrook, founder of CNGF, started her career in interior landscape design

1980: Alrie Middlebrook became a small business owner and has employed 1k employees since

1993: Founding member of Our City Forest, a volunteer planting organization in San Jose, CA

1995-1999: Alrie Middlebrook, Chair for River Street Development Group- a private development to create a national historic district and gardens at the Guadalupe River Park in San Jose, CA.

2000: Created first ever ecovillage in San Jose centered around native gardens and regenerative farming on nearly a half-acre in San Jose; only certified site in Santa Clara County that has 200 sustainable urban land use benchmarks as recognized by the United States Green Building Council

2006: CNGF was established with the mission to inform and educate the public, particularly youth, about gardening with native plants; awarded garden grants to help more than 85 schools establish ecological teaching gardens

2008: Established college internship program; have since worked with 13 universities and 75+ student interns

2009: Created a garden laboratory model for outdoor eco-literacy education for children: Environmental Lab for Sustainability and Eco-Education (ELSEE)

Since 2010: CNGF is the recipient of over 22 awards from major corporations and donors

2013: CNGF created a regenerative farm model that grows abundant food using less resources, started a regen farm program in Ghana that is now, with multiple international partners, a teaching and training model for Ghana’s youth.

2015: CNGF, with Alrie Middlebrook, served as the sustainable land use consultant for the first ecovillage in America, the Santa Clara Agrihood, to be built in 2019 in the city of Santa Clara; the CNGF team designed the regen farm model with multiple components

2017: Wrote a visioning statement, detailing the components of an urban ecovillage:

We are inviting local developers and land owners to partner with us in a number of ways.

work on sustainable projects that focus on the ecovillage model.

consider opportunities for urban farms in your developments

support Co2 reduction projects in our local community

become a sponsor of CNGF

Partner with CNGF to create at least one farm as a part of your development project.

Sponsor at least one event in our Ecovillage gardens in Central San Jose.

Participate in one billboard promotion of your business at our ecovillage. Show your commitment to sustainability in SV and join our goal to lead in the creation of a method to reverse climate change.

If you’d like to learn the details of the steps you can take to make this happen, please respond to our email and we’ll schedule a time to discuss how a sponsorship works. We’ll also explain technically how by employing specific ecology-based principles, we can reduce emissions and sequester more carbon in an agricultural system. We know it works. We have projects that are producing high yields and educating youth. We have multiple global partners who are making giant contributions in carbon sequestration. Why not here? Why not now?

Moving Forward:

As CNGF works towards its goals, we have created a steering committee with different sectors of Silicon Valley in order to accomplish our mission. The members of this committee are as follows:

1) Nancy Smith, Councilwoman, City of Sunnyvale — local government leader

]]>http://cngf.org/roa-farms-tackling-urgent-issues-around-world-backyards/feed/0Farm box recipes: How to use your fresh goodies from garden to tablehttp://cngf.org/farm-box-recipes/
http://cngf.org/farm-box-recipes/#respondTue, 12 Jun 2018 06:00:48 +0000http://cngf.org/?p=4469Farm boxes are a wonderful way to get your food local and fresh but sometimes figuring out what to do with your ingredients can be puzzling. Don’t get stumped by your farm box! Enjoy simple and fresh recipes. Lemon Balm Sleepy Time Herbal Syrup You need: Honey Lemon balm Water Place about ¾ cup...

Farm boxes are a wonderful way to get your food local and fresh but sometimes figuring out what to do with your ingredients can be puzzling. Don’t get stumped by your farm box! Enjoy simple and fresh recipes.

One of our weekly farm boxes

Lemon Balm Sleepy Time Herbal Syrup

You need:

Honey

Lemon balm

Water

Place about ¾ cup lemon balm leaves into a small pot and add enough water just to cover the leaves. Simmer, covered partially, until the liquid is reduced in half. Strain out and compost the leaves. While still quite warm, measure out about ½ cup of the concentrated tea and stir 1/4cup raw honey into it. Add more honey to taste if you wish. You can make larger or smaller batches- keeping a ratio of about 2 part lemon balm infusion and 1 part honey. Store in refrigerator. Dose by the spoonful at night to help calm and relax everyone from children to adult.

Credit: thenerdyfarmwife.com

Chinese Sautéed Garlicky Purple Tree Collards

This is a basic way to prepare sautéed purple tree collard greens or swiss chard (or both together!!).

1 large bunch greens of your choice
Getting their from box from the garden

(chard, kale, or collard greens), 12 to 16 ounces

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

3 to 4 cloves garlic, minced (or use more, to your heart’s content!)

Juice of 1/2 lemon or apple cider vinegar to taste

Chinese five-spice to taste

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Remove stems and thick mid-ribs from whatever type of greens you are using. Wash the leaves thoroughly, dousing a batch at a time in a large bowl to make sure that all sand and grit are removed.

Slice the midribs very thinly. Stack a few leaves atop one another and cut into wide strips.

Heat the oil in an extra-large skillet or steep-sided stir-fry pan. Add the garlic and sauté over low heat for 2 to 3 minutes, until golden.

Add the greens to the pot and stir to coat with the oil. Add just enough water to keep the bottom of the pan moist. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the greens are bright green and just tender. Swiss chard takes 3 to 5 minutes; kale and collards about 5 to 8 minutes.

Add the lemon juice and the Chinese five-spice. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve at once straight from the pan, or transfer to a covered container.

]]>http://cngf.org/farm-box-recipes/feed/0News roundup for California Native Gardens upcoming summer months and morehttp://cngf.org/news-roundup-california-native-gardens-upcoming-summer-months/
http://cngf.org/news-roundup-california-native-gardens-upcoming-summer-months/#respondTue, 12 Jun 2018 05:45:53 +0000http://cngf.org/?p=4466News around the garden is a’plenty–much like the harvests of many native edibles, berries and zucchini in the warmer months. As summer plants grow and wind their way upward on poles and trellises, California Native Garden Foundation, along with its partners and goals, keeps climbing too. Here’s a quick rundown of all the amazing things...

News around the garden is a’plenty–much like the harvests of many native edibles, berries and zucchini in the warmer months. As summer plants grow and wind their way upward on poles and trellises, California Native Garden Foundation, along with its partners and goals, keeps climbing too. Here’s a quick rundown of all the amazing things we are glad you support.

Google teams are coming for a visit to our ecovillage and training regen farm at Hester Garden in July.

We are looking for neighborhood advocates who want the use of 76 Race St to stay in this neighborhood as a teaching garden, native demonstration gardens and San Jose‘s first ecovillage. We want to support our business partners: Mindful Ways, The Mindful Aging Project, Good News Wood Salvation, CNGF’s Native Garden Nursery, and Middlebrook Gardens. Please continue to write Ruth Cueto and Dev Davis, our City Councilwoman.

Dev Davis, our District’s elected official, will be visiting our gardens on July 2 at 10 am. Please join us here to show your support to keep the gardens here and spreading this kind of land use to other communities.

We are launching Build 25 in the coming weeks. We are forming a steering committee representing 12 interest groups in Santa Clara county who support building 25 Regenerative Organic training farms in our county. These farms will be training and research centers so that young people can learn to design, build and manage them. Our steering committee’s goal is food sovereignty and food security for all residents in Santa Clara County.

Hats off to our special interns and students working on our regen farming model at Hester Gardens this year. We give special thanks to Louise Daviron, our sustainable agriculture intern from France, Enzo Ugolini, a dual major in Sustainable Forestry and Sustainable Agriculture, University of Santiago, Chile, and Katherine Cardoza, UCSC student intern.

Our Garden of the Month is Hester Garden. We celebrate the regen components featured and those being designed at this trailblazing site.

EWB/SJSU Students will be traveling with me to Cape Coast Ghana on July 27. We are launching a crowd funding site in a few weeks! It will tell the story of what we hope to accomplish on this trip with financial contributions from our community! Stay tuned!

We will be offering a regen farm class to college interns and members of the community in the fall. Helping us teach this class will be Sara Rosenberg, a no-till farm specialist whom we worked with in Yamoransa, Ghana. Sara taught members of the Peace Corp and small holder farmers at the Center for No Till Agriculture in Africa. She also designed and built a no till farm that CNGF helped fund near Kumasi, Ghana.

We have T-shirts ready for our Google visit. If you’d like one, we will be launching our campaign soon.Six categories of food plants that protect local ecology and stop global warming when we farm locally and eat250 food plants, 12 months a year! Comfort, super, nitrogen fixing, drought tolerant, perennial and Nativefoods. We are what we eat every day of the year.How many do you eat? How many do you grow? How many Native grasses are in your local ecosystem? Andwhy is this important to know?

]]>http://cngf.org/news-roundup-california-native-gardens-upcoming-summer-months/feed/0Healthy earth creates a healthy community in local Hester School Gardenhttp://cngf.org/healthy-hester/
http://cngf.org/healthy-hester/#respondTue, 12 Jun 2018 05:08:27 +0000http://cngf.org/?p=4462Healthy soil, healthy food, and a healthy community are all goals of the Hester School Garden. by Louise Daviron and Enzo Ugolini Have you heard about Hester School Garden? It’s been now almost seven years since the school allowed the California Native Garden Foundation to use and develop the space as an educational garden. The...

Healthy soil, healthy food, and a healthy community are all goals of the Hester School Garden.

by Louise Daviron and Enzo Ugolini

Have you heard about Hester School Garden? It’s been now almost seven years since the school allowed the California Native Garden Foundation to use and develop the space as an educational garden.

The goal for this garden, of less than 1/4 of an acre, is to use it to explore, study and show our vision of regenerative organic farming.

We are using native hedgerows to amplify the ecosystem benefits provided. We also want to maximize the space of food production—not only horizontally, but also vertically. Furthermore, we are testing technologies, through the aquaponic agriculture project, with the Engineers Without Borders from SJSU.

Lately, we have been applying concepts based on the syntropic agriculture philosophy, a movement coming from Brazil that is also called “agrofloresta.” This philosophy relies heavily on the idea that the health of the soil creates a healthy planet, which produces healthy food. Nutrient recycling, natural pest control and enhancing boosts to the ecosystem from native plants accomplish this.

In this last point, we have also been planting (and promoting) a lot of native edible plants in a way to diversify our production and to familiarize with the Native American culture of our region, since we believe this is our duty.

With the days getting warmer and the sun each day more present, the garden is thriving! Take a look:

on the ground you can see that we use the “waste” from a palm tree we cut as a path way. What can stay on the plot should stay on the plot !

we grant great importance to polyculture and believe in an agriculture of abundance where plants benefits from each other better than an agriculture of scarcity where plants are in competition

]]>http://cngf.org/healthy-hester/feed/0Community based ‘Build 25’ project launches now, regen organic ag is cominghttp://cngf.org/community-build-25-regen-agriculture/
http://cngf.org/community-build-25-regen-agriculture/#respondFri, 11 May 2018 03:28:51 +0000http://cngf.org/?p=4448Community based movement to build 25 Regenerative Organic Agriculture(ROA) training and research farms in Santa Clara County is happening now. We believe our region can lead the nation in transitioning to regenerative organic agriculture while at the same time training our youth and conducting research comparing ROA to existing farming methods. Join a Steering Committee,...

Community based movement to build 25 Regenerative Organic Agriculture(ROA) training and research farms in Santa Clara County is happening now. We believe our region can lead the nation in transitioning to regenerative organic agriculture while at the same time training our youth and conducting research comparing ROA to existing farming methods.

Join a Steering Committee, by contacting me a 408-666-1518 or cngf.org@gmail.com

Happening in real time and parallel with our effort to gather support for this kind of land use in cities is our “Build 25” initiative. Our goal is to gather support from:

academic institutions, universities and colleges

public and private schools,

local and regional government

developers,

land owners,

funding institutions and grantors

technical advisors, scientists/researchers,

urban and peri urban farmers, big ag farmers

corporations,

health institutions,

churches, synagogues and mosques.

Media

If you wish to know more about why we are pursuing these goals, follow these links.

]]>http://cngf.org/community-build-25-regen-agriculture/feed/0Bulldoze paradise? An update on community efforts to save California Native Garden Foundationhttp://cngf.org/bulldoze-paradise-update-community-efforts-save/
http://cngf.org/bulldoze-paradise-update-community-efforts-save/#respondFri, 11 May 2018 03:14:46 +0000http://cngf.org/?p=4445Bulldoze paradise? We think not. Here’s an update on our efforts to save our Eco-Village from the bulldozer. We have received tremendous letters from over a dozen supporters. Thanks to each one of you! Bravo!! If you haven’t written a support letter yet, please take a few minutes and tell our city officials the merits...

]]>This is what we do at Middlebrook center 365 a year! Here are what two partners, MBG and CNGF contribute to our community, especially schools, every day.

Bulldoze paradise? We think not.

Here’s an update on our efforts to save our Eco-Village from the bulldozer. We have received tremendous letters from over a dozen supporters. Thanks to each one of you! Bravo!!

If you haven’t written a support letter yet, please take a few minutes and tell our city officials the merits of keeping this kind of land use in central San Jose. Write to: ruth.cueto@sanjoseca.gov and send a copy to dev.davis@sanjoseca.gov. This month, we are adding our City Council rep to the list of people we want you to address your letters.

Here are some talking points:

We will always need regenerative organic farms and restored Native ecological gardens in the heart of Silicon Valley and cities across America. We can set an example for others to follow. All youth benefits when nature is in their daily lives. They learn where good healthy food comes from and how to grow it. They can learn practical life skills and lose their nature deficit disorder syndrome.

This valley has always been known for innovation. Why stop at information technology? What about innovation in urban land use?

We teach pre-school -college interns valuable life skills like:

building organics in soil,

growing your own food,

restoring nature,

promoting biodiversity,

pollination,

learning the native grasslands,

building aquaponics,

Eating Native edibles,

Regenerative organic agriculture,

managing storm water,

sequestering carbon and

biogas diverters, etc.

We have a native plant nursery in central San Jose. We’ll help you replace your lawn with native plants. We have helped over 85 schools!

This is a teaching, training and research center where kids learn about systems that protect endangered species and ecosystems services. We don’t save one plant, we save the habitat (an ecological system whose thousands of species support each other through a network of beneficial microbiomes)

The habitat we have created here almost 20 years ago supports endangered species. If these gardens are bulldozed, a habitat is lost and the opportunity to show and teach children why we must preserve habitat in cities is lost.

The Middlebrook Center, the Eco-Village model can be the model of land use in cities. An urban farm and Native gardens surround all of our businesses working here. Can government agencies and funding institutions help us buy this land for a new model of urban development that can train and educate? That can teach our youth the specifics of how we shrink our carbon footprint so it’s a shadow???

using land this way in cities will solve the climate crisis, one city at a time. Grow the food where people live; preserve nature and biodiversity where people live. Meet human life cycle needs where people live! Don’t transport our food, our water, our waste, our energy.

cover of our landlords site development permit to SJ planning department

Think: Fossil Fuel reduction!

Manage our human needs like a plant does, all in one place. We’ve been killing ourselves moving all our life cycle needs to us. Why not simplify our lives, mimic what our local microbes have been doing beneath our feet for millions of year while protecting our local ecology and meet our needs for food, water, soil, energy, air, waste recycling, right where we live. Why should our cities look different than our country?

The Earth has always managed its cycles of life by keeping systems in tact, but when these systems are disrupted by natural events, like fire, earthquakes, floods, etc., Earth also has a recovery plan to replace ecosystems that have been disturbed so Earth recovers quickly.

Gateway to San Jose’s first Eco-Village

It’s our turn to start doing this in cities where humans have disturbed natural systems the most! Think of our species as the ultimate disturber of natural ecosystems. We now understand the ecosystem approach to urban land management.

The cities of the future will look more like farms and the parks of the future will look more like nature. Then we will be doing what we are supposed to do: stewarding our planet for the perpetuation of biodiversity, and providing hope for our grandchildren who can play with all the bugs, and birds and reptiles that will still be here, after we’ve long been feeding the microbes in the soil six feet under. Cycle on…….

Keep sending letters of support! We hope to have at least 100 letters during this comment period. When you send your letter, you will receive a letter from the city. They will inform you of a public meeting where the community will have our opportunity to show why our landlord’s proposal should be denied and why the public agencies should invest in a new kind of urban open space!! You are a resident of California, you vote and pay taxes.

Write to: ruth.cueto@sanjoseca.gov and send a copy to dev.davis@sanjoseca.gov to speak out!

]]>http://cngf.org/bulldoze-paradise-update-community-efforts-save/feed/0San Jose State students finishing up amazing semester work projects with CNGFhttp://cngf.org/san-jose-state-students-finishing-amazing-semester-work-projects-cngf/
http://cngf.org/san-jose-state-students-finishing-amazing-semester-work-projects-cngf/#respondFri, 11 May 2018 02:47:01 +0000http://cngf.org/?p=4436San Jose State University students are finishing up their projects at our ELSEE teaching gardens at 76 Race St and the Hester Garden on the Alameda. Please stop by and meet the students and see their projects! This year we’ve been working with: Engineers Without Borders Club who have been rebuilding our two aquaponics systems. We will...

San Jose State University students are finishing up their projects at our ELSEE teaching gardens at 76 Race St and the Hester Garden on the Alameda. Please stop by and meet the students and see their projects!

This year we’ve been working with:

Engineers Without Borders Club who have been rebuilding our two aquaponics systems. We will also be traveling with them to two villages, Yamoransa and Ntranoa, Cape Coast, Ghana, Africa this summer to work on farm training projects, which includes more bioengineering applications for our regenerative farms.

An EPiCS student engineering team led by three graduating seniors, Michael Nguyen, AmyTrujillo and Natalia Slawinski. They completed a storm water capture and cleaning system to be used as a demonstration platform to teach visiting field trip classes and nature campers about how to use use storm water for multiple purposes, including irrigation, ponds, aquaponics and even drinking and food preparation. They also created lesson plans for our storm water badge program which students can be earning this summer.

CAP students majoring in Environmental Science were required to complete a community project for a Communications class focusing on students finding solutions that effectively address climate change. “5 women” working together all semester, they learned the hands on skills of regenerative organic agriculture (ROA) and manned a booth at the campus Earth Day event, sharing Native edible plants with fellow students, while espousing the benefits of ROA. The students are: Michelle White, Ingrid Salazar, Gina Lee, Alicia Fernandez and Jaime Wiltz. Bravo!

We were lucky to also have propagating students, nature camp and grant writing students help with those teams, including Katherine Cardoza, UCSC, Pratyusha Poguru and Jaaly Schommer
Christmas Party for students, internsEpics program logo for SJSU EPICS studentsEWB_SJSU chapter members rebuilding the aquaponics system at Hester SchooleWB_SJSU learning about designing aquaponics systemsIngrid, Michelle and Alicia, 3 Cap students learning how to apply compost to an ROA FarmInterns having fun together

Natalia, Michael and Amy after completion of their storm water capture and cleaning system for helping CNGF students understand how to reuse storm water. This was an EPICS PROJECT

San Jose State and CNGF are lucky to have had the honor of working with these students and we wish them well on their future endeavors.

]]>http://cngf.org/san-jose-state-students-finishing-amazing-semester-work-projects-cngf/feed/0National parks and urban gardens: Tales of native plants at work, in the yard and abroadhttp://cngf.org/national-parks-urban-gardening/
http://cngf.org/national-parks-urban-gardening/#respondFri, 11 May 2018 02:28:49 +0000http://cngf.org/?p=4423National parks may not be the first things to come to mind when thinking of a garden–but let’s compare and contrast with what one might typically call a native garden. One a native garden called the Pinnacles National Park where we recently hiked, and the other, The Regenerative Organic Agriculture Training Farm for college students...

National parks may not be the first things to come to mind when thinking of a garden–but let’s compare and contrast with what one might typically call a native garden.

One a native garden called the Pinnacles National Park where we recently hiked, and the other, The Regenerative Organic Agriculture Training Farm for college students at Hester School.

What do these gardens share? How are they different?

They each promote biodiversity and pollination.

Each have abundant food for humans and wildlife.

Both protect ecosystems services for all the organisms that live there.

They each have connections between plant communities that are dependent on those connections to complete their life cycles.

No tilling happens in either garden.

Pesticide use is permitted in our national parks but not at Hester garden.

The Pinnacles does not have an irrigation system; Hester Garden does. But the Pinnacles has rivers and a reservoir. Hester does not.

You don’t see a lot of exposed soil at the Pinnacles. There are timeless rock formations covered with colorful lichens and algae. Then each species growing on the rocks has associated microbiomes to assist them in completing their life cycles. The soils are covered with leaf litter, many biodiverse plants, vegetative matter decomposing on the soil surface and many species of plants growing very close to each other.

The ecosystems at the Pinnacles make their own mulch to protect the soil microbiology. At Hester, We cover up all the soil.

We don’t till soils at ROA farms because we don’t want to disturb the soil’s microbiology or disrupt microbial networks. We also want to stop soil erosion, save water and build organics.We use compost, mulch, straw and last year’s crop residue, nitrogen fixing plants, and plant many species of plants closer together to cover up all the soils at Hester garden.

At the Pinnacles this process happens by not disrupting nature’s cycles, like the carbon, nitrogen and water cycles.

]]>http://cngf.org/national-parks-urban-gardening/feed/0Plants of the month: wild and edible California crops you can grow at homehttp://cngf.org/plants-month-wild-edible-california/
http://cngf.org/plants-month-wild-edible-california/#respondThu, 10 May 2018 20:37:00 +0000http://cngf.org/?p=4420Plants of the month for May are two edibles: Malva rosa (Tree Mallow) and Amaranth. by Zak Malva rosa, formerly known as Lavatera assurgentiflora is native to the Channel islands of California and is a wonderfully edible plant, with the leaves, flowers and seeds good for consumption. It is a shallow-rooted plant that does well in all kinds of soil...

Plants of the month for May are two edibles: Malva rosa (Tree Mallow) and Amaranth.

Flowers and leaves of malva rosa

by Zak

Malva rosa, formerly known as Lavatera assurgentiflora is native to the Channel islands of California and is a wonderfully edible plant, with the leaves, flowers and seeds good for consumption. It is a shallow-rooted plant that does well in all kinds of soil as long as they are well drained, and it can tolerate full sun.

It is fast growing and can reach heights of 14 feet and up to10 feet in width. It also serves well as an ornamental, windbreak or privacy screen. The flowers are in bloom for most of the year except for a few months between late fall and early winter. One of my volunteers told me that the original genus name, Lavatera, is an indicator of the plant’s sudsing ability—meaning the leaves can be used to make bubbles, but I have not tried this yet myself.

Amaranth (Amaranthus spp.) is found around the world as a common weed, it is a self-seeding annual that perennializes for a short-lived season in California. The plant can grow to be 6 feet or taller depending on the variety and comes in many beautiful shapes and colors.

a small amaranth

The young leaves of most species are edible as a salad green or sauteed. Nutritionally they are similar to or better than beets, Swiss chard and spinach, with the leaves having three times the amount of calcium and niacin (Vitamin B3) as spinach leaves. The plant is much closer genetically to its wild ancestors than our over-selected and nutritionally depleted vegetable crops and the leaves are also an excellent source of carotene, iron, calcium, protein, vitamin C and trace elements.

Bunches of the greens can be found at farmer’s markets but don’t keep well, so it’s much easier to grow the plant and cut as needed.

We have both these plants and their seeds in the nursery at CNGF, come by and get yours!